The Dragons and Snakes by David Kilcullen

In 1993, the CIA director warned that Western powers might have 'slain a large dragon' with the fall of the USSR, but now faced a 'bewildering variety of poisonous snakes'. Since then, both dragons (state enemies like Russia and China) and snakes (terrorist and guerrilla organizations) have watched the US struggle in Iraq and Afghanistan, and mastered new methods in response: hybrid and urban warfare, political manipulation, and harnessing digital technology. This book is a great primer of twenty-first century threats our nation and CA forces will face: cutting-edge tactics and adaptive adversaries. 
 

The Art of War by Sun Tzu, Translated by Thomas Cleary

A book familiar to most but seemingly more relevant in current times than in the past, perhaps. Sun Tzu's strategies focus on shaping battlefields using relevant economic, political, psychological factors (information operations) as a means to fight his enemies. 
 

The Dictator's Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alistair Smith 
This book provides a simple version of selectorate theory to analyze the structure and behavior of leadership within a spectrum of regimes from democracy to pure autocracy. This could be key to CA in understanding not only whom they should engage with but also the structures of the various societies they are working by, with, and through to potentially influence.
 

Lawrence of Arabia On War by Rob Johnson
In this book, Dr. Rob Johnson, Director of the University of Oxford Changing Character of War Centre,  provides an innovative study of T.E. Lawrence and his thinking on war. He discovers through deep examination that Lawrence was conducting a mix of information warfare, hybrid warfare, and irregular warfare by building human networks with great effect. There is a gold mine of stratagems in this book and great reflections on the ‘hard study and brain-work’ required to understand war and ground context.
 

Military Strategy in the 21st Century by Charles T. Cleveland et al
The authors argue in modern war that people and networks of influence are key terrain, as much or more so, than prized pivot points in traditional geopolitics. There is a chapter highlighting contemporary civil affairs operations and how teams mapped the human geography and developed human networks of influence. [Special Deal for CAA Members]
 

The Savage Wars of Peace by Max Boot
America's "small wars," "imperial war," or, as the Pentagon now terms them, "low-intensity conflicts," have played an essential but little-appreciated role in its growth as a world power. Beginning with Jefferson's expedition against the Barbary pirates, Max Boot tells the exciting stories of our sometimes minor but often bloody landings in Samoa, the Philippines, China, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Mexico, Russia, and elsewhere. Along the way he sketches colorful portraits of little-known military heroes such as Stephen Decatur, "Fighting Fred" Funston, and Smedly Butler.
 

 The New Rules of War by Sean McFate
McFate defines the present global condition as one of “durable disorder,” the principal feature of which is persistent and perpetual armed conflict. Entities like China, Iran, terrorist organizations, and drug cartels, all of whom have less money and firepower than the U.S., are more effective in the new forms of warfare, such as strategic subversion and information campaigns, covert proxy or “shadow” wars that may include private mercenaries, economic warfare, terrorist attacks, and strategic manipulation of laws to further their agendas. 
 

 In the Midst of Wars by Edward G. Lansdale
The prototypical Civil Affairs officer, Ed Lansdale fought the Huk Rebellion in the Philippines by pushing good governance, responsive military forces, and innovative tactics that prioritized capturing insurgents rather than killing them. He tried to follow the same agenda in South Vietnam without the necessary support from the American chain of command.
 

 The Generals by Thomas E. Ricks
History has been kinder to the American generals of World War II, with much reverence for Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley, more so, than to the generals of the wars that followed. Notwithstanding, during World War II, scores of American generals were relieved of command simply for not being good enough. In The Generals we meet great leaders and suspect ones, generals who rose to the occasion and those who failed themselves and their soldiers. Rick’s book is a damning statement of the guild mentality in the general officer ranks where loyalty to the guild is paramount to competence, adaptability, vision, and strategy. 
 

 War and the Art of Governance by Nadia Schadlow
Success in war ultimately depends upon the consolidation of political order. Consolidating the new political order is not separate from war, rather Nadia Schadlow argues that governance operations are an essential component of victory. Despite learning this the hard way in past conflicts from the Mexican War through Iraq and Afghanistan, US policymakers and the military have failed to institutionalize lessons about post-conflict governance and political order for future conflicts. This book provides an excellent historical treatment of US Civil Affairs and describes the difficulty of military governance in contemporary operations. A useful book for those writing papers on Civil Affairs or governance operations.